Fingerprinting at Airports - any objections?

shnaek said:
And re fingerprints - around 1,000 deaths in the UK through terrorism over the last 30 years (not sure of the exact figure). Around 3,000 deaths PER YEAR on the roads. Why spend all that money on a fingerprint system which isn't going to do all that much to prevent terrorism? Even if you don't have a problem with fingerprinting, you got to ask why they are concentrating their efforts and money on it.
Click to expand...

Has it not already been stated earlier on this thread that the UK airport fingerprinting is not done as a security measurement to stop terrorist or criminals but in fact to prevent illegal immigration. So all the facts and figures to do with terrorism are irrelevant anyway.
 
And most importantly in that article:

BAA, whose airports include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, has argued that scanners are needed so that all passengers can shop in its huge terminal shopping malls.
Click to expand...

A point I made very early in this discussion, it's not security here, it's BAA!
 
FYI Ten finger screening of fingerprints of visitors to the USA is to be introduced at all American entry and exit points in January 2009.

"Dept of Homeland Security .... would help avoid the large number of false readings that two finger screening had produced since it was introduced........ screening had detected 2,400 people trying to get in to the US with false passports over the past four years."
 
shnaek said:
We aren't talking about measures in place. We are talking about new measures. And also this argument doesn't hold true - it is the tiger/rock argument from the simpsons - I have this rock, and I haven't been attacked by a tiger. Therefor this rock prevents tiger attacks. So some could suggest that without the measures in place the figure could be higher, but there are no facts to back this up. Are we to go down a route of implementing policy without fact, or cost benefit analysis? We know how that goes here in Ireland, re. transport in particular!!
Click to expand...


Well I bow down to the simpsons analysis, you have me there.
 
MrMan said:
Well I bow down to the simpsons analysis, you have me there.
Click to expand...

As I often do myself :)
Fact is, we cannot assume our benign democratic system of governance is going to be with us always. It is a relatively new construct, and we must be vigilant in our protection of it, and our protection of our own civil liberties. We don't have to go back too many decades to realise that greater civilizations than ours have fallen under totalitarian rule of some sort. When this happens, it usually happens pretty quickly. Not many would have predicted the dramatic fall in the ISEQ over the past 12-15 months. Governments can fall equally fast when 'events' occur.
Perhaps our democracy will last a thousand years. But if we fall under a totalitarian system it won't help those of us who would be free to fight against it if they have our fingerprints or DNA ;)
Seriously though, if government want fingerprinting it is up to them to prove how it keeps us secure. And it is up to them to prove that they will keep the data they have on their citizens secure. And it is up to us to make sure that they know we aren't fooled by spin, and we take our hard fought for rights seriously.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top